Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Jan 6: In a major setback to Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) chairman Rohit Pawar, the Bombay High Court on Monday stayed the MCA elections scheduled to be held on Tuesday.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad directed the MCA’s electoral officer not to proceed with the election process without prior permission of the court or until the next date of hearing.
Observing that the petitioners would suffer irreparable loss if the elections were allowed to go ahead, the bench said the availability of an alternative statutory remedy alone was not sufficient. “This is not a rule of universal application that aggrieved parties shall have remedy only in filing the Election Petition once the election process has been initiated,” the court remarked.
The interim relief was granted on a petition filed by former cricketer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kedar Jadhav, who alleged large-scale irregularities in the induction of new members into the MCA. The petition claimed that more than 400 members were added under various categories in an arbitrary and illegal manner, marked by nepotism.
The controversy erupted after the final voter list published on December 29 showed a steep rise in eligible voters from 154 to 571, triggering allegations of political interference in the membership process. According to the plea, more than double the existing number of members were inducted “in a clandestine manner”, vitiating the entire process and violating principles of natural justice.
Serious allegations were also raised that relatives and close associates of Rohit Pawar were included in the voters’ list to consolidate support for his re-election. The updated list reportedly features Pawar’s wife Kunti Pawar, his father-in-law Satish Magar, Revati Sadanand Sule, daughter of NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule, Baramati Agro’s Subhash Gulave, former MLA Atul Benke and NCP-SP spokesperson Vikas Lawande, among others.
The matter will now be heard on a later date, with the election process remaining on hold until further orders.